Market Basket boycott is hurting other businesses

FITCHBURG — Employees returned to work at the Market Basket on Water Street Monday, but empty shelves that are keeping customers away is having a ripple effect on other businesses.

Several tenants in Central Plaza where the grocery store is located said since customers are not coming to Market Basket, they're not coming to their business either.

"Business is down 40 percent," said Banty Patel, manager of Topp's Liquor. "They used to stop at Market Basket and then come here. I hope they start back up very soon."

Rupert Rodriguez, owner of Sudsy Bubbles Laundromat, said the Market Basket's loss of customers is having a significant impact on his business.

He said the last two Saturdays, between noon and 7 p.m., there have been two customers using the laundromat. It was always packed before the problems at Market Basket, he said. There are a few customers who stop by to buy tobacco products and play the lottery, he said.

"When people don't come to buy their groceries, they don't come here. They used to kill two birds with one stone," said Mr. Rodriguez.

He said most of his customers don't have cars. They take cabs to the plaza, start their wash and then grocery shop and go to CVS or other stores, and come back to finish their wash and wait for a cab, he explained.

"The people who are hurting are the average people like us who are tenants here and the people who come to buy. In my book, the older people who live around here who don't have cars suffer the most," Mr. Rodriguez continued. "The ones who have cars can go to Stop and Shop or Hannaford's. They tell me those stores are packed now."

He said several of his older customers said they were afraid to come to Market Basket when the picketers stood close to the building "yelling and screaming." He said the loud picketing is still going on, but now protesters stand on the sidewalk, near the road outside the plaza.

He said residents who live across the street from the protests find the noise to be a nuisance because it goes on all day.

Store manager John Sevastis, who started out as a bagger 37 years ago, said his 320 employees are working. Warehouse workers and drivers have not returned to work since the last delivery on July 17. Since there isn't much on the shelves, some employees have been cleaning the store and doing other odd jobs. After work and during their lunch breaks or their day off, employees are continuing their protest to try to force the company to bring back former President Arthur T. Demoulas, who was ousted in June by a board controlled by his cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas.

Mr. Sevastis said he's willing to put his job on the line to try to return the company to the family-oriented business it was. He said the other Demoulas cousin, who owns 50.5 percent of the company, has said he wants to increase prices, lower benefits and replace the current profit-sharing program with a 401(k) plan.

He said the company's CEOs promised employees that if they returned by Monday they would not be penalized. But, he said, management is holding job fairs for positions of people like himself who are still working.

Mr. Sevastis said he has several family members who also work for Market Basket. He met his wife 28 years ago while the two were working in Wilmington store. He said the pickets and boycotts are not to try to get more money or more benefits, but to bring back Arthur T. Demoulas, who has taken care of the company's 25,000 employees.

"When I came here from Greece I didn't speak a word of English. I grew up in a rat-infested apartment in Lowell to where I am today," Mr. Sevastis said passionately. "I'm willing to give up everything for this man that has honor, compassion and comes to me every time and says, 'John, how's your wife and your two daughters?' "

Phil Hardy, 29, has worked at the company since starting as a bagger at age 15. He stocks shelves now and is paid $13 an hour. He said his goal is management.

"You couldn't ask for a better company They take very good care of us. We're trying to get this company back to what it was," Mr. Hardy said as he used a bullhorn to shout words of appreciation to honking motorists.

Mr. Sevastis said he is well aware of the ripple effect the boycott is having on neighboring businesses and individual companies that supply goods to Market Basket.

"I'm sure the liquor store has been affected. I'm sure the laundromat has been affected," he said. "Our vendors have been affected ... our bread vendors and chip vendors and our landscaping company and our floor-wash company," he said.

"If you really think about it, we have all these flower growers. What's going to happen to all these flowers that they grew for us that we're not paying the bill for?"

Contact Elaine Thompson at elaine.thompson@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @EThompsonTG